In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of ‘Opinions on Deepening Reform and Cultivating World-Class Sci-Tech Journals’ adopted by the fifth meeting of the Central Committee of Deep Reform, seven ministries and commissions, namely, Chinese Association for Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, Education, and Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, National Press and Publication Administration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Engineering, jointly launched the ‘Excellence Action Plan for China STM Journals’. After the project application, qualification examination, on-site defense, expert committee review and public announcement, Journal of Magnesium and Alloys (JMA) sponsored by Chongqing University was successfully selected in the plan, and became one of the 22 leading journals in China.

The ‘Excellence Action Plan for China STM Journals’ is a key task specified in the Central Government's ‘Opinions on Deepening Reform and Cultivating World-Class Sci-Tech Journals’, which has received close attention from the sci-tech and journal communities. The action plan includes five categories: leading journals, key journals, echelon journals, new journals with high starting points, and pilot clusters, etc. The leading journals as the highest level must fully reflect the high quality of the journals and China's influence in the world. The selection of this plan is very competitive that only22 out of 248 journals nationwide were selected for the leading journals, of which only 7 journals under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and sponsored by universities were selected. Leading journal project is the highest-level and largest-funded project in China with 5 years of continuous funding with of at least 1 million Yuan per year.

Journal of Magnesium and Alloys as the first academic journal focusing on magnesium and magnesium alloys in the world was founded in2013 by National Engineering Research Center for Magnesium Alloys of Chongqing University and Chinese Committee for Magnesium and its Application (published by Elsevier). JMA was launched by Prof. Fusheng Pan (Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering) from Chongqing University under the guidance of the famous materials scientist Prof. Changxu Shi, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Prof. Fusheng Pan serves as editor-in-chief while Prof. Xiaodong Peng as executive deputy associate editor. The editorial board members consist of well-known experts in the field of magnesium alloys from more than 10 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Russia, etc. JMA editorial board members include the president of the International Magnesium Association, the chairman of the Korean Materials Society, the member of the American Academy of Engineering, the editor-in-chief of Acta Mater and Mater Sci Eng A, etc., and a number of internationally renowned scientists, etc. Since its establishment, JMA has received strong supports from Chongqing University, and the academic quality and influence of the journal have continued to rise. Up to now, JMA has been indexed in a series of important international databases such as SCIE, Scopus and CA, etc. The impact factor of JMA in 2018 reached 4.523 (IF: 4.523), ranking the fifth from76 SCI-indexed journals in the category of Metallurgy and Metallurgical Engineering worldwide, with a quartile of JCR Q1.

Cultivating world-class scientific and technical journals is a significant work of Chongqing University to implement the spirit of the central document and promote the construction of ‘double first-class’ university. The inclusion of Journal of Magnesium Alloy is a full affirmation of the construction and development of journals in Chongqing University, indicating the important international academic impact of Journal of Magnesium and Alloys in the world, which helps to better serve the national scientific and technological innovation system. In the application process, the editorial office of Journal of Magnesium and Alloys in CCMg and the Journal department of Chongqing University attached great importance, actively organized and carefully prepared, while the application also received the strong support from the Publication Department of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department.

From the perspective of academic journals, the world's first-class scientific and technical journals must be able to lead the trend of global basic innovation development, while from the perspective of technical journals, they should be able to lead the tendency of global technological innovation and industrial development. The editorial office of Journal of Magnesium and Alloys will take this opportunity to build a world-class, internationalized and high-level leading science and technology journal based on the strength of professional disciplines, contribute to the construction of ‘double first-class’ of Chongqing University, help China to accelerate the construction of world-class science and technology journals, and consolidate the sci-tech and culture foundation of our country to become a powerful sci-tech nation in the world.

It is reported that there are 837 journals (495 in Chinese and 342 in English) and 25 pilot clusters applied for the "Excellence Action Plan for China STM Journals ", among which 22 leading journals, 29 key journals, 199 echelon journals, 30 new journals with high starting points, and 5 pilot clusters were selected. A total of 4 journals in Chongqing were selected for the program, among which Journal of Magnesium and Alloys of Chongqing University was the only leading journal in Chongqing. Chinese Journal of Trauma (English version) of Army Medical University and Chinese Journal of Hepatology of Chongqing Medical University are selected as echelon journals, and Genes and Diseases (English version) of Chongqing Medical University is selected as new journal with high starting point.